Mission Mars: Balance or Bust
April - August 2024
Individual Project · Bachelor Level · Industrial Design Engineering
Course: Thesis Project
The Bachelor Final Assignment is the concluding project of the Industrial Design Engineering programme, carried out individually in collaboration with an external company or organisation. It combines research, design, and development to address a real-world challenge, applying the full range of skills and knowledge gained throughout the programme.
This project explored the design of an AI-driven life-coaching tool aimed at helping young adults balance self-care with discipline in their daily routines. Through a combination of user research, concept development, and prototyping, the work investigated how artificial intelligence can support goal-setting, habit formation, and emotional well-being, while fostering a sustainable and personalised coaching experience.
Theoretical Framework
The project examined various AI life-coaching technologies before selecting Laika, an AI robot dog for long-duration space missions, as the focus. Laika was chosen because it combines physical health monitoring with emotional support in an extreme, high-pressure environment. The framework looked at AI ethics, health monitoring, and social robotics, focusing on issues like privacy, autonomy, trust, and dependency. It also explored how Laika could balance two key perspectives: supporting astronaut well-being and enforcing mission discipline.
Approach, Research, and Framing the Design
The approach treated research and design as an iterative process, with findings from one stage informing the next. The research question was: How are the ethical implications and impacts of AI life coaching perceived, concerning Care of the Self and Discipline? The design question was: How can Laika promote Care of the Self while fulfilling disciplinary functions to maintain balance? Laika was selected for its novelty, challenging operational context, and potential to provide both emotional and technical support.
Data was gathered through interactive storyboards, a survey with 40 participants, and an expert interview. These methods explored decision-making in realistic scenarios and captured perceptions of Laika’s role, producing key themes around integration, emotional and technical support, trust, and responsible AI design.
Story 1
Story 2
Story 3
Design Process
The client requested an interactive format, which led to the creation of Mission Mars: Balance or Bust, a role-based card game. Early exploration mapped how astronaut and mission control preferences influenced the use of Laika, which then evolved into a model showing different levels of care and discipline. Cards were developed for three roles—astronaut, mission control, and Laika—each capable of affecting both task success and well-being. Game mechanics were shaped to reflect realistic decision-making and cooperation under pressure.
Results & Recommendations
The final outcome is a card game that simulates the trade-offs between productivity and well-being in space missions. Testing with design students showed it was engaging, clear, and effective, though some wanted more complexity and environmental challenges. Player attitudes towards AI influenced outcomes noticeably. Future improvements include refining mechanics, adding new variables, testing with a broader range of participants, and exploring scenarios involving multiple Laikas. The insights from this game could also inform a future real-world redesign of Laika.
Reflection
This project pushed me well beyond my comfort zone, as AI and its ethics had never been part of my studies. Working with Laika as a case study meant quickly learning about privacy, trust, and the balance between astronaut well-being and mission discipline. The focus on designers rather than astronauts shaped both the process and the feedback, keeping it aligned with the project’s goal of informing future AI design.
Designing and testing the game without a real prototype was challenging yet rewarding, as it showed me how strongly attitudes toward AI can shape outcomes. It reinforced that design is as much about understanding people and ethics as it is about function and that iteration is key when both technology and human needs are constantly evolving.